The application of bay’ al-‘inah (sale and repurchase back) and bay’ al-dayn (sale of debts) is making the Islamic financial industry lost its identity. The issues are serious to the Islamic financial market movement, as it is not about minor details of religious practices (furuq) but sadly dealing with the fundamental (usul) of religion. This time it is riba or usury. Its application in Islamic financial market is partly caused by the lack of knowledge in riba that is both definite and decisive. For this reason, it is critical to put things straight and get to the basics again. This paper endeavours to give a thorough analysis between the Sale of Goods and the Sale of Debts. Only by appreciating the differences between both sales in the eyes of Shariah would only then one can appreciate the distinctions. Compliance to or otherwise to the principles of Shariah is one the agenda of this paper entitled “Sale of Goods and Sale of Debts - A Comparative Analysis From The Perspective of Shariah” which speaks for itself. Some of the issues will be discussed in general while some issues will be analysed in detail.
- Expediting the payment of the purchase,
- The debtor is present at the point of sale,
- The debtor confirms the debt,
- The debtor belongs to the group that is bound by law so that he is able to redeem his debt,
- Payment is not of the same type as dayn, and if it is so, the rate should be the same to avoid riba,
- The debt cannot be created from the sale of currency (gold or silver) to be delivered in the future,
- The dayn should be goods that are saleable, even before they are received. This is to ensure that the dayn is not of the food type which cannot be traded before the occurrence of qabadh, and
- There should be no enmity between buyer and seller, which can create difficulties to the madin (debtor).